It is my great pleasure to nominate Mary Dutkiewicz for the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. Mary is a Nurse Practitioner in the Clement Zablocki VA Hospital's Heart Failure Clinic. Mary has exhibited impressive clinical skills during her years at the VA Hospital, as well as in private cardiology practices. Mary's integrity is exhibited through her professional, yet compassionate demeanor. I have noted her interactions with patients (including me) to be outstanding and she provides high quality care in her area of expertise - cardiology. Mary is well-respected by staff and patients alike and is dedicated to serving Veterans. She does not hesitate to advocate for her patients and, in fact, suggested that I undergo a cardioversion procedure to help treat my atrial fibrillation. I successfully underwent this procedure in April 2013 and it has significantly improved by health status.

Mary constantly stresses the need to stay physically active with heart failures and, due to her sound and reassuring advice, I am now actively enrolled in Tai Chi classes and work out regularly on a recumbent bicycle, both of which have already improved my health. We are so fortunate to have a caring professional like Mary on staff at the Heart Failure Clinic - I feel the care she provide as a nurse practitioner is thorough and, for many, life-changing. For her many contributions to nursing practice and her dedication to her patients, it is my pleasure to nominate Mary Dutkiewicz for the DIASY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.